Origins of Modernity: Origins of Modern Social Theory from Kant to Hegel to Marx

ISBN :
9780745603469

Publisher :
Polity Press

Author(s) :
John F. Rundell

Overview
This volume offers a reconstruction of the work of Kant, Hegel and Marx, focusing on their conceptions of, and their theories about, the modern era. It argues that the notion of the self-defining subject is a key concept for these thinkers, a concept which expresses their debt to the tradition of the Enlightenment. But in attempting to develop the Englightenment ideal, Kant, Hegel and Marx elaborate their theories in ways that undermine or restrict the original ideal and give rise to tensions and unresolved problems. John Rundell examines these tensions and problems, and gives particular attention to the ambiguities and conflicting themes which run throughout Marx's writings, such as the conflict between the emphasis on production on the one hand , and the concern with language and creative symbolism on the other. The result is a book which should be of interest to anyone concerned with the work of Kant, Hegel and Marx and, more generally, with differing ways of thinking about the nature the modern era.